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Jeter's Next Big Swing

"I don't miss playings," says the retired Yankee, as the press-shy captain leads website The Players' Tribune, where DeAndre Jordan and Tiger Woods break news (sorry, ESPN) and backers are betting on a media home run

With a boost from movies including "Battleship" and "Snow White and the Huntsman," the studio crosses that mark earlier in the year than it ever before in its history.

Universal Pictures International reported Tuesday that its overseas box-office grosses have passed the $1 billion mark on the strength of such recent movies as Battleship and Snow White and the Huntsman.

It’s the fastest that Universal’s international distribution arm has hit that mark, besting its previous record of Aug. 16, set in 2008, when it was handling films including Mamma Mia! and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

With the international audience growing, UPI is the fifth distributor to collect $1 billion in foreign grosses this year; Disney and Warner Bros. hit that mark in May, Fox in June and Sony in July.

Universal movies that have contributed to its foreign haul include Safe House, which has grossed $77.5 million to date overseas; Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax ($99.7 million); American Reunion ($177.4 million); Battleship ($238 million) and Snow White and the Huntsman ($220 million). All are still in release, and The Lorax has yet to open in nine territories including France, Germany, the U.K. and China. Also, the R-rated comedy Ted, a big hit on the domestic front, and the new Oliver Stone thriller Savages have just begun their international rollouts.

Universal has five more films on tap for 2012: the thriller sequel The Bourne Legacy; the comedy Pitch Perfect, action-thriller The Man With the Iron Fists, the musical adaptation Les Miserables and the Judd Apatow comedy This Is 40.